Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
OP, you and me, kiddo! I counted the days until I could file at 61 and 9 months and I am counting the days until I get my first direct deposit in the spring. I am even planning a little ''SS party'' which involves a restaurant outing!
Long-term unemployment, under-employment, yada, yada and an 8 year long stress-o-thon to never find full-time work with benefits is over. I finally accepted that filing early would give me some semblance of a life, so that's what I did too.
I am already fantasizing about taking a few road trips in my old car and maybe eating a seafood and steak dinner to celebrate.
Enjoy your freedom, OP! Happy for you!
I just worked it up and social security constitutes 74.55% of our retirement income when I do retire at age 70 which is less than two years away now.
Obviously the longer I put off collecting benefits, mine go up about $94 every six months that I delay, the percentage social security goes up.
if we wait until 70 ss will be about 1/3 of our total income . distributions from our funds in dividends , interest and capital gains represent the most .
64 1/6 and I'm really looking forward to Medicare. It will be a HUGE jump in income for us since we won't be paying for such expensive health insurance (almost $1600 a month). Yes, we'll still be paying, but not nearly as much.
Since we own the business, we won't be retiring until our two longest employees retire, which will be in about 5 more years.
However, I don't expect to live nearly as long as my husband. His parents died in their 90s; mine died in their 80s. With my health, I'd be surprised to live that long. I really feel like I ought to go ahead and collect at age 65 or 66 since, long-term, I won't be collecting as much as even my parents did.
Then again, it'll just be more money for his next wife to spend.
I am 74. I retired at 62. I am single so no concern about anybody but myself and no need to consider leaving any inheritance/estate.
SS is about 1/3rd of my monthly income. The rest comes from drawing down some Mutual Funds I own. I have not had to touch my IRA's (other than MRD) yet and at my present drawdown rate, I would not need to touch the IRA's until age 90 and this assumes the Mutual Funds have no growth.
I do expect to start to draw down the IRA's some just for extras like vacations, etc. and the fact I do not want to leave anything on the table when I die......LOL
Many of the posters on this board think of their Social Security check as an after thought. Many of you have huge 401k balances, pensions and annuities. You have the assets to wait until you are 70 to collect Social Security but retire at fifty and use your vast savings and pensions to pay the bills.
Though, I hope you understand that people like this are a minority in America. MOST Americans can't afford to retire until they get a Social Security check. And Social Security covers more than 50% of their retirement expenses.
That is me. My Social Security check covers about half of my retirement expenses.
My so called career was a nightmare. I was fired often, laid off often and usually ended up in the worst companies. My various bosses yelled at me, told me I was no good and liked to play games with my self confidence. I suffered through long periods of unemployment and tough financial times. I jumped from job to job, career field to career field. I was miserable.
When the first Social Security check came in I had a huge emotional reaction. FREEDOM!
(I still work part time (in a semi retirement role), but it is an easy job with none of the pressures of management or a professional role. I actually like it. But I don't need it and it is only part time. For the first time in my life I am in freedom!)
Congrats! I know exactly how you feel. I am going to be scared to death until that first check comes in. I should draw it in early 2017.
Social Security will (hopefully!) cover 60-70% of my retirement expenses. Thankfully I also have a $600/month pension to help supplement things, plus what I've managed to put away in my 403b/401k accounts. Like you, Curious, I got a small inheritance, used to pay of my mortgage. I consider myself very fortunate.
In fact, more than half of all retired Americans have no income other than Social Security or SSI. Probably half of those with other sources of income, need Social Security to make ends meet. [mod cut]
Last edited by volosong; 01-11-2017 at 05:56 AM..
Reason: partisan political rants belong in P&OC, not here
Many of the posters on this board think of their Social Security check as an after thought. Many of you have huge 401k balances, pensions and annuities. You have the assets to wait until you are 70 to collect Social Security but retire at fifty and use your vast savings and pensions to pay the bills.
Though, I hope you understand that people like this are a minority in America. MOST Americans can't afford to retire until they get a Social Security check. And Social Security covers more than 50% of their retirement expenses.
That is me. My Social Security check covers about half of my retirement expenses.
My so called career was a nightmare. I was fired often, laid off often and usually ended up in the worst companies. My various bosses yelled at me, told me I was no good and liked to play games with my self confidence. I suffered through long periods of unemployment and tough financial times. I jumped from job to job, career field to career field. I was miserable.
When the first Social Security check came in I had a huge emotional reaction. FREEDOM!
(I still work part time (in a semi retirement role), but it is an easy job with none of the pressures of management or a professional role. I actually like it. But I don't need it and it is only part time. For the first time in my life I am in freedom!)
Mine began recently and I felt just as you did. Freedom, indeed!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Klassyhk
Congratulations to you!!
My step-father (RIP) and my mom depended on their SS checks as well. So do my other older relatives.
I noticed too that most posters here on C-D claim to make over $100k annually even the ones on a whim who up and move to a new state or city without a job. They move into a new $350k+ home in an upscale, crime free walkable neighborhood, with shopping, five-star restaurants, art galleries, and the top performing public schools. According to their post, within a short time in their new location they find a new job (advertised on Craiglist or Indeed or through a temp agency?) which starts them at $65K plus $20k bonus. Two years later, they're promoted to a position that pays $100k and to top it off allowed them to work from home whenver they want. So there you have it.
On the Financial-economics threads, along with their huge 401k plans and numerous ROTH IRAs top-offed at max contributions most of the posters claimed to have all gone to top tier universities which cost $50k per year yet they graduated debt free due to daddy's money or a part-time job sacking groceries. They are now all working in jobs whose minimum salary is $100k but that is primarily for the low-achievers. These high-achieving posters are clearing $150K+ annually after taxes. Another poster claims that his salary tripled within a year or two of being on the job and now his wife is a stay-at-home mom raising children yet he's paid off not only his own college debt but his wife's too - all within a span of TWO years. It's all just so surreal!
Yet, most of the people I know are like you, OP. SS check is crucial to maintaining their cost of living. There is nothing wrong with that. You've paid into over the decades that you worked. Let the high-rollers kick rocks! If their SS checks are so unneeded why don't they donate them to the poor (someone who wasn't able to land one of these $100k+ salary jobs that seem so ubiquitous and easy to get), if the many C-D posters are to be believed.
Wonderful post....and a dose of reality so needed here! Thank you.
I hear what you are saying. I just turned 61 and hubby will be 62. The last 10 years were not kind to my husband. When the economy tanked so did his sales jobs. He would work a year get let go because of cuts or not making quotas. Our savings was wiped out. He has a job now that he loves but doesn't pay that great.
The upside he has taken a drastic pay cut and when I look at our SS at 66 it is only a few hundred less a month than we make now. With some other things paid off by then, we should be able to live off of that and not touch our meager retirement. I don't know if we will wait to retire until closer to 70 since we both enjoy our jobs. Although we are growing garlic on the side to sell. Hubby has always been in produce sales so he has good connections in the area. Who knows but it is nice that he will be 62 and if he would get the ax we do have better options then trying to find a job at 58 or 59 or 60.
Congrats! I know exactly how you feel. I am going to be scared to death until that first check comes in. I should draw it in early 2017.
Breath and be FREE!
No need to be scared! The Social Security Administration is nothing if not reliable. In the almost 11 years I've been receiving SS retirement benefits, not once has a direct deposit been late or missing.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yes!
Wonderful post....and a dose of reality so needed here! Thank you.
